OLD BELL INN & D LAFFERTY & SONS, DERBY

Old Bell Inn & D Lafferty & Sons, Derby.

The Old Bell Inn is one of the oldest pubs in town, dating back to the 1680’s it shows an older appearance due to its Tudor style timbering but these were additions done to the building in the early part of the 20th Century. There are many reported sightings of ghosts at the Old Bell, downstairs there is a Victorian Lady seen dressed in Blue, she stands quietly waiting to be served then when staff go anywhere near her she vanishes. Poltergeist activity has been reported downstairs too, with objects being moved or disappearing and reappearing days later. One unfortunate Barmaid was actually struck on the back of the head by a coat hanger as she left a certain room, she knew immediately it was paranormal because she was the last person to leave the room. Upstairs the Inn has its own ghost too, this is a serving girl who was supposedly killed by Jacobite supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie when his army stayed in Derby for two days in December 1745, however local church documents do not record any deaths by foul means whilst the largely Scottish Army was billeted in the town, so this story may have been yet another Victorian fabrication designed to fit in with the sightings of a young serving girl, whoever she is and whatever age she comes from she has been seen by many people, in the 1930’s the Landlord’s infant son was in his room when he suddenly developed a fit of coughing, the Landlord raced to the bedroom and on opening the door he saw the shade of the young lady standing over the child, who it seemed liked the ladies presence for his coughing fit had stopped. Roughly twenty years later and the same room was used by another landlord as a nursery for his young child, the landlords wife was busy changing the child’s nappy one day when she had to leave for a brief second to get some nappy pins, as she returned to the room she too saw the ghost of the young lady, this time stooping over the child as if to pick the baby up, many now believe this is not a serving girl at all, but perhaps a nursery maid who was put in charge of a youngster who perhaps passed away whilst in her care, it seems that for any young child staying at the Bell Inn they have a guardian looking after them round the clock.

The public house currently known as D Lafferty and Sons has the reputation as being the most haunted place in Derby, a big reputation indeed. I say currently known because in recent years this pub has had its fair share of name changes, to anyone with an indulgent passion in the paranormal it is better known as the George Inn. This public house was originally constructed around 1693 at a time when the social standing of Derby was increasing; its use was as a coaching Inn where people travelling from all over the country would stop over for a nice warm bed and a hot meal. It has also been home to Derby’s own Militia named the Derby Blues, this unit of armed and trained men were formed just before Bonnie Prince Charlie came to town, and when news reached the Blues’ commander, the Duke of Devonshire, of the imminent arrival of the Jacobite army he gave the order that the “Derby Blues shall retire” and thus open warfare never came to the streets of Derby. The George has also seen its fair share of Royalty, though rarely has a British Monarch stayed here. In 1763 Prince Viktor Friedrich Von Halt-Benburg stayed at the Inn, as did the Duke of York and King Louis the Ninth of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1771. Workmen digging in the cellar in 1992 uncovered a grisly reminder of Derby’s more troubled times. A skull was uncovered, just a Skull, a few animal bones, decayed shoes and bits of leather, naturally everyone has their own belief as to who this skull belonged to and why it was in the cellar. No one knows for sure, the Skull dates back many centuries and is a female skull, yet that is all that is truly known about this grisly find. Because the George stands on Iron Gate and Sadler Gate I believe the remains come from a Viking “midden”, which is essentially a hole in the ground where household rubbish would be dumped. Vikings named their street’s Gata, where we get Gate from, though not known for sure this is my opinion. The main haunting in the George itself is of a man dressed in a blue coat of the 18th century fashion, perhaps the Duke of Devonshire making the sad decision to run away rather than fight, this ghost has been seen many times and has also been blamed for poltergeist activity within the building, crockery in the Kitchen has been seen flying through the air, only to land on the floor without a scratch. As frightening as the ground floor is in the George it is nothing when compared to the level of poltergeist activity within the refurbished cellars where metal buckets and plastic stoppers for beer kegs have been thrown at people working down there in the recent past. Yet what frightens the staff most of all are the groans and moans of a dying man which is heard within the cellar and sends an icy chill through the people who hear it. Over the years the George has had many different uses, even a dentist and a stop-off for a corpse on his way to burial.

CJ Linton.